Asia

Disruptions from twin quakes in southern Japan hit economy

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Exterior wall of the city hall fall off after the earthquake in Uto, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan Saturday, April 16, 2016. A powerful earthquake struck southern Japan early Saturday, barely 24 hours after a smaller quake hit the same region. (Muneyuki Tomari/Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

A man walks by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Monday, April 18, 2016. Share prices sank in early trading Monday after an effort by major oil producing nations to agree on production cuts failed over the weekend. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara) (The Associated Press)

In this Friday, April 15, 2016 photo, a resident walks past collapsed houses in Mashiki, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, after a magnitude-6.5 earthquake. The powerful earthquake struck Thursday night, knocking down houses and buckling roads. (Ryosuke Uematsu/Kyodo News via AP, File) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

The twin earthquakes that have paralyzed parts of southern Japan are having a ripple effect far beyond the disaster zone, with Toyota Motor Corp. suspending output in other areas due to disruptions in its parts supplies.

Toyota says it has stopped production at a factory in Kyushu, where the quakes struck late Thursday and early Saturday, killing at least 42 people.

The shutdown will progress to other plants in Japan through Friday. Output will resume depending on the availability of parts.

The earthquakes, which struck Thursday night and overnight Friday, have caused electricity outages and disruptions to water supplies. Roads and airports in the region were affected, with some damaged areas in hard-to-reach mountain areas cut off by landslides that blocked roads and bridges.